Gift of Light for Haiti & Family Promise of WNY Leading Lights at Last Night’s Friendraiser

By Seamus Gallivan

               Last night’s Friendraiser at the Sportsmens Tavern was incredibly fulfilling, as we brought together a couple dozen Good Neighbors who are dedicated to the greater good and connected them with many mutual interests.

               While we have plenty of follow-up work to do – proposed events such as a charity street hockey tourney; products for The Good Hood store such as local band t-shirts, as store steward Josh Holtzman also picked up two new clients last night in leaders of the evening’s jam On the Sly and Good Hood regulars Free Henry; initiatives for more written and video content on this site including local music and unheralded community icons – there were a few attendees who made immediate plans together that we can all get involved with for both local and international community benefit, in one case accomplishing both at once.  

               In going around the room and introducing everyone and their respective community work/interests, I was able to identify some obvious candidates for “fast friends,” while others connected on their own – an instant bond and offer was made between local urban farm guru Robert “RoJo” Joseph and visiting American Green International (AGI) Outreach Coordinator Leah Quintal, the former hosting a house concert this Sunday and the latter looking for a venue to sell innovative solar light bulbs as part of a newly-launched Gift of Light for Haiti campaign.

 

               Sarah Quintal, a Campbell, New York, native whom I first met as a volunteer for Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper and now works for Journey’s End Refugee Services, brought to the Friendraiser her twin sister Leah – who currently lives in Asheville, North Carolina – who drew a lot of interest in her Nokero solar light and AGI’s mission to deliver 1,000 more of them to neighbors in need in Haiti to eliminate costly kerosene use, provide protection and daily use in unsafe tent cities, and illuminate shops for commerce. Leah pulled into town with a trunk-full of these lights that live for up to two years on one rechargeable AA battery, for sale at the same $20 price offered online by Nokero and available with an option to give to someone in Haiti or purchase two and keep one to use here for camping, backpacking, fishing, or emergency.

               Having already invited everyone to his 293 Linwood Avenue home on Sunday beginning at 5:30pm for a garlic harvest, BBQ, and concert with Mr. Conrad and friends, RoJo jumped up and offered for Leah to not only demonstrate and sell her lights there but screen the accompanying eight-minute documentary on the side of his house. In addition to the open invitation for Sunday, Leah encouraged anyone interested in the campaign to email her at leah-at-americangreeninternational.com before she leaves town Monday morning.

               “Our goal is to do a full-fledged documentary on social entrepreneurs in Haiti, and these solar light bulbs will be featured in it,” said Leah, who traveled to Haiti in January with American Green founder and filmmaker Kurt Mann. “Our first trip was a case study of sorts in which we brought the bulbs and solar cookers to Port-au-Prince, where there are lines of tents on dust-covered streets. It turned out that the solar cookers were not practical – they’re cumbersome and expensive. But light bulbs are more useful in creating opportunity, particularly for safety in tent cities where there’s no light at night and a lot of violence, especially with women – there’s a huge problem with rape. I can’t imagine how you can move forward when you have that kind of fear for your safety every night. We’re hoping solar light bulbs help raise the bar for what living conditions are like – there’s a lot of potential there.”

               There’s also a lot of potential – promise, as it’s pledged – on the local front in another first-time Friendraiser attendee, Jim Tamol, a Lancaster native whom I first met through our mutual love of craft beer but had heard about through my relentlessly philanthropic aunt, Mary Lou Dietrich. Tamol is leading the return to Western New York of Family Promise, a national organization with more than 160 affiliates dedicated to helping low-income families secure lasting independence. Although the Western New York chapter had folded in 2008, it was revived last year with an office in South Buffalo and now claims Tamol as its full-time executive director, along with a full-time case study manager, an Americorps rep, two part-time staffers, and a community of volunteers.

               “I’d been involved with politics for several years but wanted to do something that felt like I was giving back more,” said Tamol. “So I did a couple years in Americorps to reset my whole career and get into the nonprofit field. When this position opened initially, I wasn’t sure I wanted to do it, but I researched to find out more about the organization, and it really does a good job of working with homeless families.

               “When families end up homeless, the biggest issue is not having a strong social network,” Tamol explained. “But by incorporating so many volunteers – each family meets 30-50 new people a week – even though they’re only at the host site for a week, they make real strong social connections. Once families are out and in a position where they should be sustainable and safe, if they do have an emergency, they now have that network.”

               Working with three families and up to 14 people at a time, Family Promise of WNY’s first nine months of renewed operation provided local families with more than 1,500 bed nights of emergency shelter and 3,000 meals, with the help of volunteers who gave more than 5,500 hours of service.

               “We’re not going to cure homelessness,” Tamol admitted. “But through sustainable housing searches; acting as an intermediary with landlords to ensure everyone’s getting a fair deal; finding an apartment and neighborhood that’s good for each family; getting kids to school and child care; signing parents up for classes and job searches; we empower people by helping them do the things they need to do.”

               Learn more about Family Promise of WNY through their website, and stay tuned for an Octoberfest-themed fundraiser in the fall. “I tend to run fundraisers based on what I want to do,” Tamol proclaimed.

               That makes Tamol our kinda guy, as was everyone who attended last night’s Friendraiser – people who care about and want to get more involved in their communities. If this resonates with you, we’d love to see you at our next Friendraiser, back at the ever-hospitable Sportsmens Tavern on Wednesday, August 17^th – put in on your PalmPilot and stay tuned for further plans!